# Claire-Marie Brisson Preceptor in Romance Languages and Literatures (French) ![Claire-Marie Brisson](/sites/g/files/omnuum8296/files/styles/hwp_4_5__480x600/public/2025-03/brisson.jpg?itok=BXmKOwrK) location\_on Boylston 507 smartphone [(617) 495-1813]() email laptop\_windows [Curriculum Vitae](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tKJstp_16rw6V6RRRez8NXEfz45a_i0eZt4CmJs7GkI/edit) **Office Hours** Tuesdays & Thursdays 12:00 pm-1:00 pm or by appointment **Academic Degrees:** Ph.D. in French (Cultural History), University of Virginia; M.A. in French (Cultural History), Wayne State University; B.A in French Studies and Secondary Education, Minors in German and Political Science, University of Michigan-Dearborn. **Roles:** Course Head for French 30, 40, and 64. **Research Interests:** North American Francophone Studies; 20th- and 21st-Century French/Francophone Literature, Music, and Film; North American Religious Traditions (Catholicism, Protestantism, Huguenots); Media Studies; Podcasting; Digital Humanities; Semiotics and Culture; Foodways and Enology; Sustainability (Waterways, Energy, Industry, Environment, and Innovation); Indigenous Studies; Canadian Studies; French-Canadian Studies; Cartography and Liquid Landscapes; Language and Governmental Policy; Second Language Acquisition; Ergonomic Curriculum Development. **Websites:** [http://clairemariebrisson.com](http://clairemariebrisson.com/) (Professional Website); [http://thefrancophone.com](http://thefrancophone.com/) (Podcast) --- **Dr. Claire-Marie Brisson** is a Franco-Michigander whose scholarship bridges Michigan and Québec, situating her work within the broader framework of the North American Francophonie and her own upbringing in Dearborn, Michigan. In her role as Preceptor, she oversees, designs, and teaches intermediate and advanced courses on Francophone media, cinema, and North American French identity. Her forthcoming book, *Michiganaise* (Wayne State University Press), reframes the history of Francophone North America through the Great Lakes and Detroit River region. Drawing on archival research, press culture, oral traditions, and material landscapes, Brisson develops *Michiganaise* through the intersecting lenses of French and Francophone Studies, Cultural History, Religious Studies, Local Studies, and memoir as a critical mode of analysis. Structured through a series of microhistories, the book reinscribes the lives of nineteenth-, twentieth-, and twenty-first-century Francophone communities into broader questions of belonging, memory, and identity. By tracing rivers, parishes, print culture, and the shifting terminology of French identity, *Michiganaise* offers a new framework for understanding how Francophone traditions have been sustained, reshaped, and reimagined across North American borders. Dr. Brisson has published in *Études Francophones* (2025), *Le Devoir* (2025), *La Presse* (2025), and *France-Amérique* (2024), and is a frequent keynote speaker at international conferences and institutions, including the *Assemblée parlementaire de la francophonie*(2023) and the *Forum des jeunes ambassadeurs de la Francophonie* (2024). At Harvard, her teaching combines experiential learning with critical cultural inquiry, engaging students directly with Francophone authors, filmmakers, policymakers, and community leaders. Beyond her academic work, she is the founder and host of The North American Francophone Podcast. She serves as President of the Middle Atlantic & New England Council for Canadian Studies (2025 - ). Her scholarship and public engagement share a central aim: to reassert the intellectual, cultural, and institutional presence of Francophone North America, and to situate its waterways, cultural traditions, and communities within the broader currents of history, identity, and cultural transmission. View her curriculum vitae [here](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1tKJstp_16rw6V6RRRez8NXEfz45a_i0eZt4CmJs7GkI/edit). ### Spring, 2026 [### FRENCH 30 - Upper level French : Current Events and Media in the Francophone World ](/class/french-30-upper-level-french-current-events-and-media-francophone-world-0) **Semester:** Spring | **Year offered:** 2026 | **Link:** [Course Website](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-126942/2025/spring/12178) This course explores the theme of identity and representation in francophone media through various types of media, from the written press to social media, while revisiting French grammatical structures and refining speaking and writing skills. Through spontaneous exchange... [### FRENCH 40 - Advanced French I: The Contemporary Francophone World Through Cinema ](/class/french-40-advanced-french-i-contemporary-francophone-world-through-cinema-0) **Semester:** Spring | **Year offered:** 2026 | **Link:** [Course Website](https://locator.tlt.harvard.edu/course/colgsas-126997/2025/spring/12179) In this advanced French language and culture course, you will explore Francophone cultures through contemporary films to build interpretive, interpersonal, and presentational modes of communication while activating analytical and creative thinking. Course materials include... - ## Department Role [Language Faculty](/department-role/language-faculty) - ## Language [French](/language/french) - ## Research Interest [20th Century](/research-interest/20th-century) [21st Century](/research-interest/21st-century) [Literature](/research-interest/literature) [Francophone](/research-interest/francophone) [French](/research-interest/french) [Digital Humanities](/research-interest/digital-humanities) [Media Studies](/research-interest/media-studies)